What's less damaging to the environment when using the mens room: the hand dryer or a paper towel?

Answer 1

The paper towel. The paper's recyled and recylable and it doesn't use any electricity.

Answer 2

The hand dryer is not clean. It uses electricity and is inefficient and noisy. The paper towel could be recycled, and hopefully is. The production of paper and its recycling does have a negative impact on the environment. The roller towels also have an impact, as the cotton has to be grown and processed, and they have to be washed. But I think they have the least impact of the three, providing they have a reasonably long life, as the impact of washing is not so great as the reprocessing of paper.

Maybe we should carry a small cotton hanky to dry our hands on after washing or use the side of our trousers.

Answer 3

The hand dryer is probably the more enviromentally friendly, and I doubt most places actually recycle paper towels. However, hand dryers spread infection as they are blowing bugs around in the air, so it's really deciding if you want to save the world or the NHS. (If your British. Someone the money they would spend going into hospital or to a doctor , or hassle they would get from insurance companies) Six and half a dozen really.

Answer 4

Take your own towel with you. Paper towels are manufactured so require energy and wood from the forests. Hot air blowers require energy and blow all the microscopic water particles from the toilet flushes on to your hands. You might think that this isn't a lot but many air dryers don't get hot enough to kill the bacteria so anything living in the warm dryer is blown on to your hands. I'd rather walk out with wet hands.

Answer 5

Paper towels MAY be made from recycled material, but the process of recycling paper involves a hell of a lot more electricity that using a hand dryer. And even if paper towels are made from recycled pulp, there still needs to be some virgin fiber in the towel (probably at least 25%) meaning you need to cut down trees, drag them out of the forrest, transport the logs to a mill, chip them, pulp them, and bleach them. AND you still need to MAKE the paper which takes even MORE electricity! There are also several chemical operations in recycle pulping and papermaking that emit air and water pollution.

I would DEFINATELY vote that an air dryer is better for the environment.

Answer 6

The mens room water gets filtrated and sanitised to do so chemicals used are enviro friendly.

The hand dryer power is supplied : (1) by hydro-power through super-dams which harm ecology by limiting water supply;
(2) by coal which pollutes the atmosphere, leaves holes in earth
and poison the soil and water; (3) by nuclear power which emits harmful radiation; (4) by solar or wind energy where is is stored using chemical or lithium batteries which are harmful to the enviro.

Paper is manufactured by chopping trees, cutting and crushing it, then going through a chemical process to make paper. If these chemicals are controlled, re-used, and sensitised to the environment and ecologically sound paper farming is used by replanting of trees, providing time for the land to heal and maintaining the soil, water management and maintenance of diversity of plant and animal life, then a paper towel is the most ecologically sound alternative.

Answer 7

Well, it seems that the most environmentally friendly thing to do is to not wash your hands, but that's not really a good answer.

So my suggestion is, shake off as much water as you can, and don't bother drying them with either the dryer or the towels. Just remember to be careful when you get back to your table and pick up your pint with wet, slippery hands.

Answer 8

The electric hand dryer uses electricity to run.
The paper towel uses electricity to recycle.
And the material roll towel uses electricity to wash them.

Hmm!!! I think a more accurate survey is required!!!

Answer 9

Thats a good question. The hand dryers have statements on them saying 'better for the environment' but how much oil has to be burnt to heat and blow the air? We should just wipe our hands on our jeans.

Answer 10

I think its the hand dryer, maybe 2 mins at 12 cents per KWhour so .4 cents or .4 cents of paper. Maybe about the same.

Answer 11

OMG!

A man that washes his hands after going to the loo!?!

Nah......theoretical question I suspect!

Though if it is a true question then I would suspect that - now we have a penchant for recycling - the paper towel would ultimately be the less damaging.